In less than a decade, Beijing has transformed itself from a city of gloomy,
uninspired concrete cubes to a site containing some of the world's
most inspired architecture. While China's new prosperity plays a part, the
primary impetus is this year's Olympic Games which are due to start next month
in the city. A look at some of the major projects follows.

The surreal "Water Cube", a.k.a. the National Aquatics Center, is
covered with sheets of translucent plastic bubbles, which invoke images of a
building constructed entirely from water. The bubbles also transmit light and
absorb heat, cutting energy usage. The Center is the world's largest
polymer-clad building, and will be one of the primary venues during the
upcoming Olympics.

The "Bird Nest" is the friendly name for Beijing National Stadium,
a 91,000-seat venue with an eye-popping space age design that contains 36
kilometers of unwrapped steel supports. Built for $430M, the stadium will also
be one of the Olympics’ primary venues. It is claimed that as many as 10
people died during the construction of the Stadium.

The hypermodern National Center for the Performing Arts, a gigantic $400
million titanium-and-glass flying saucer, floats like a pearl on its
surrounding pool of water. To complete the image, an underwater tunnel provides
entry. The Center's lush interior is said to house the most technologically
advanced acoustics and mechanical wizardry of any concert hall in the world.
The water enclosing the building also acts as thermal mass, to mediate the
temperature inside.

There's the China Central TV (CCTV) Headquarters, a massive Escher-like
structure that strains the boundaries of what it means to be called a
skyscraper. The building's shape is so complex, that computational tools to
validate its design didn't exist a decade ago. CCTV Tower's 4.1 million square
feet of floor space makes it the second largest office building in the world,
after the Pentagon. The design, which includes a massive unsupported
segment, will never be repeated, according to some architectural experts.

Greenpix, a multistory video display wall, is being called a "zero
energy video art installation". Built on the wall of a large seafood
restaurant, the solar-powered installation will display specially-commissioned
videos by renowned artists.

Finally, Beijing has also completed an addition onto its airport: Terminal
Three. The two-mile long structure is not only the world's largest airport terminal;
it's one of the world's largest enclosed spaces. Built at a cost of $3.5
billion, it has over 100 gates, and covers some 9 million square feet spread
over five above-ground and two underground floors. The roof of the terminal is
punctuated by raised triangular skylights, meant to evoke the scales of a Chinese
dragon.

Beijing is also constructing the world's largest Ferris wheel, in Chaoyang
Park.

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This article is over a month old, voting and posting comments is disabled

In a limited, hierarchal form, it certainly exists. Delegates within the Communist Party vote, during the National Congress, and to elect members to various higher groups such as the Politboro and the People's Congress.

An unkind observer could state the only difference between the US and Chinese political systems is that to have a vote in the latter, one must belong to a single party, while to vote in the former, one must belong to one of two nearly-indistinguishable parties.

> "Well, under that criteria the old Soviet Union was a managed democracy"

Yes...and are the Russians any better off today, with the prima facie appearance of several viable political parties, but United Russia actually controlling everything by hook and crook?

In any case, since the Chinese Communist Party instituted their "Three Representes" policy a few years back, they honestly taken great strides to be more responsive to the will of the people. Is it America? No, of course not...but its a substantial evolution from the old "Great Leap Forward" days.

"This is about the Internet. Everything on the Internet is encrypted. This is not a BlackBerry-only issue. If they can't deal with the Internet, they should shut it off." -- RIM co-CEO Michael Lazaridis